Hema Malini Birthday: Revisiting Five Best Films Of Veteran Actor

Veteran actor Hema Malini's Birthday is around the corner, this year she will be celebrating her 74th birthday. Malini earned herself the tag of  Dream Girl, a title bestowed on her by the fans. Malini's films made her dance on glass shrapnel, climb ceiling fans, and even hit baddies with a whip. Hema Malini did it all on celluloid, making her truly the unconventional actor of her times.

Malini, along with being a prolific actor, she is also a Bharatanatyam dancer, writer, director, producer, and politician. Let's dive into her life and career.

Malini made her acting debut in 1963 with the Tamil film Idhu Sathiyam. After 5 years in 1968, she played the lead role opposite Raj Kapoor in the Hindi film Sapno Ka Saudagar and has ever since ruled the hearts of people with her expressive eyes. Her success was followed by films like Johnny Mera Naam, Andaz, Khushboo, Charas, and Baghban amongst others.

In her broad career, Malini received eleven nominations for the Best Actress category at the Filmfare Awards. In 2000, she won the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2019 Filmfare Special Award for 50 Years of Outstanding Contribution to Cinema. She was also honoured with the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian honour awarded by the Government of India.

 Hema Malini Birthday, Films To Watch

Sholay

Malini played the no-nonsense talkative tangewali Basanti, who prides her horse Dhanno and can shush you in her one "Yunki, yeh kaun bola?" Her bubbly performance left a long-lasting impression amid Jai-Veeru's camaraderie in Ramesh Sippy's 1975 dacoit film Sholay.

Seeta Aur Geeta

The actor played two contrasting characters in the film as the identical twins Seeta and Geeta, who are separated at birth. While Seeta is a rich heiress controlled by her cruel relatives, Geeta is a bad**s street performer, who is pro at beating up people if needed. They swap lives due to circumstances and Geeta ends up teaching her relatives a lesson. Her bang-on comic timing plus the casual baddie attitude proved that Malini was the ‘hero’ of this film. Seeta Aur Geeta was a blockbuster that ranked the actor as one of the female superstars of her time.

Dream Girl

Pramod Chakraborty's 1977 film saw Malini essay the role of a young con woman, who maintains disguises to steal money in order to maintain a home for orphans.

Razia Sultan

In Kamal Amrohi's film, Malini played the role of the 13th-century queen, Razia Sultan. The movie boasted of spectacular sets, fabulous battle scenes, glittering costumes and a smashing musical score by Khayyam that is remembered even today. A erotic song from the film has come back into circulation in the last few years after the LGBTQIA+ community gained momentum in India. Titled Khwaab Ban Kar... Koi Aayega, the song features charming Parveen Babi, who plays a maid to Razia Sultan, serenading her in bed.

Raja Jani 

Malini played the role of an imposter, who takes the place of a missing princess in the 1972 film Raja Jani. Raja (Dharmendra) is a con man, who hatches upon a plan to replace a duplicate of a long-lost princess and con the princess' family of their wealth. He latches on to a street dancer Shanno (Malini), teaches her how to behave in a posh society. He guides her through several pitfalls, only to have her develop a conscience. The song 'ABCD Chhodo Naino Se Naina Jodo' from the film became a huge success.

Few of her other films such as Naseeb, Satte Pe Satta, and her comeback film Baghban are fantastic watch. 

Suggested Reading: Hema Malini Turns 72: Here’s Looking At The Veteran Actor’s Political Career So Far